Great (?) Sporting Cheats Trivia Quiz

Answer: Maradona

Diego Maradona was hailed by many as the greatest footballer of his generation, some say of all time. His talents on the field for a number of clubs and for his native Argentina were clear to be seen. Yet controversy was to follow him, not least for an incident during the 1986 World Cup. In a match against England, he rose to challenge England goalkeeper Peter Shilton for the ball and used one fist to punch it into the net. Shilton protested, but the goal stood. It was, Maradona insisted, "the hand of God" that had inspired him. Argentina went on to win that tournament.

Maradona had many more years as a player and manager, but drug use and health issues persisted. He died in November 2020 at the age of 60.

Answer: Michael Schumacher

As the 1994 Formula season came to a close, in the last race in Adelaide, Australia, Michael Schumacher held a narrow one-point championship lead over Damon Hill. Early on, Schumacher crashed off the track while leading. As Hill moved to pass him, Schumacher drove his car into the side of Hill's Williams. Both cars were badly damaged and neither could continue. With no points for either, Schumacher took the championship. Hill accused Schumacher of causing the collision deliberately. That was a claim Schumacher denied. It was not to be the only incident of its kind involving the German driver. He was disqualified for crashing into Jacques Villeneuve in 1997.

In December 2013 Schumacher sustained severe brain damage in a skiing accident at Méribel in the French Alps. While skiing between two pistes, he hit a rock under the snow and fell. A camera attached to his helmet is thought to have exacerbated the injuries.

Answer: Got a lift in a car

On a hot day, only 14 of the 32 starters made it around the course. First home in a time of three hours and 13 minutes was the American runner Fred Lorz. Before he could be presented with a gold medal, the story broke that he had travelled 11 of the 26 miles in a car. He was initially banned for life, but the ban was rescinded.

Answer: Had hidden switch on sword to register phantom hits in duelling

At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Onischenko, from the Ukraine, was well fancied in the modern pentathlon One of the five events was fencing. Onischenko concealed a switch on his épée that enabled him to fool the electronic scoring system by registering a 'hit' even when there was no contact with his opponent. An opponent objected and the épée was taken away.

After an examination, he was disqualified. The rules were later changed to ban grips that could conceal switches.

Answer: Gave false urine sample

The 22 hairpin bends to the top of the mountain at Alpe d'Huez is a test of any cyclist's legs, yet in 1978 Pollentier made it in first place. As was routine, he had to submit to a drugs test by giving a sample of urine. Noting some strange arm actions, officials investigated further and found that Pollentier was 'pumping' unadulterated urine from a bag concealed under his jersey. He was disqualified and banned for two months.

If bottom to top of those hairpins is a challenge, going down is not for the faint hearted, either. It gives this quiz author the heebie jeebies just looking down the near-vertical sides from the seat of a bus.

Answer: Used sandpaper on a cricket ball

In cricket, there is a theory called 'reverse swing'. It hurts most people's heads to think about it so, in simple terms, if one side of a ball is rougher than the other, it will 'move' more in the air, deceiving the batsman. In a match between Australia and South Africa in Cape Town, TV cameras spotted Steve Smith and David Warner using sandpaper to roughen one side of the ball. A teammate Cameron Bancroft was banned for nine months.

Ball tampering in cricket is -or at least was- not unusual. Some cricketers have been detected, or at least accused of, carrying dust or grit in their pockets to use on the ball.

Answer: Stopped then rejoined the race

It was a foggy day at Louisana's Delta Downs when jockey Sylvester Carmouche finished first on the outsider after the mile-long race. Out of sight of officials on the circular route, Carmouche pulled up halfway around, and then rejoined the other horses and jockeys when they came around again.

His fresh horse romped home to finish 24 lengths up. Carmouche served eight years of a 10-year ban after the other jockeys swore he had not passed them on the course.

Answer: Falsified radio position reports

Crowhurst was an amateur who entered the 1968 "Sunday Times" Golden Globe Race, a single-handed, round-the-world yacht race. All entrants were obligated to report their positions regularly by radio. Crowhurst radioed positions that suggested he was far out in front.

In reality, he had laid up in the South Pacific after his boat began to take on water. Those false reports were enough to convince the actual leader, Nigel Tetley, to abandon the race as he thought he was too far behind.

Answer: Took bribes to throw matches

The oft-times captain of his country, in 1999 police in Delhi taped him discussing payments to throw games.

In 1995, Cronje was offered, but refused a bribe to fix a game. A year later he was not so hesitant. A bookmaker paid him $30,000 for his team to lose. Cronje claimed he did not act on it, but his team lost anyway. Cronje claimed he only received money for information and not for fixing. He was still trying to clear his name when he died in a plane crash in 2002.

Answer: David Robertson

Playing in the 1985 (British) Open, Robertson was reported to officials by opponents for moving is ball up to 20-feet closer to the pin. This was achieved by arriving on the green first and hoping no one would notice him picking up the ball. Seven years later, Robertson was granted an amateur licence to play again.

Which brings us to the story of US golfer Bobby Jones who declared a one-shot penalty on himself for inadvertently moving a ball with his club in the rough. It cost hm the 1925 US Open title. Afterwards Jones was lauded for calling a foul that no one else had seen. His reply was "You might as well praise a man for not robbing a bank".